Great Personalities

John Laws Biography and Works.

John Laws Biography and Works.

Richard John Sinclair alias ‘John’ Laws was born on August 8, 1935. An Australian radio presenter, sometimes known as Lawsie, from the 1970 until his retirement in 2007, was the host of a hugely successful morning radio programme, which mixed music with interviews, opinion, live advertising readings and listener talkback. His distinctive voice earned him the nickname, the Golden Tonsils.

Despite retiring in 2007, Laws’ management confirmed in November 2010 that he would be returning to radio in February 2011, as the host of a morning programme on 2SM and the Super Radio Network.

Born in Wau, Papua New Guinea, Laws was educated at Mosman Preparatory School and Knox Grammar School in Sydney, Australia.

He began his radio career in 1953 at 3BO in Bendigo before working at several rural radio stations prior to joining 2UE in 1957, the first of four terms at that Sydney radio station, during which time Laws, (along with Bob Rogers, Tony Withersand Stan Rofe) became prominent as one of the first Australian disc jockeys to play rock’n’roll music.

Laws is said to have pioneered the practice of using contacts in the airline industry to supply him with the latest pop releases from overseas, a facility which gave him an edge at a time when many pop records were not released in Australia until weeks or even months after being issued overseas.

Trivia

Laws was on Australian talk radio longer than any other broadcaster and as a result of his popularity, for many years, he has been cited as Australia’s highest-paid radio personality.

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Salman Ahmad

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